Downlink scheduling data monitoring method, downlink scheduling data sending method, and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A downlink scheduling data monitoring method, a downlink scheduling data sending method, and an apparatus are provided. The method includes: starting a timer; and after it is determined that the timer expires, monitoring, by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station, where duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute or hour. After it is determined that the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unit of minute or hour. In this way, not only power consumption is reduced, but also the downlink scheduling data can be monitored.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/885,306, filed on May 28, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/817,266, filed on Nov. 19, 2017, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,694,462. which is a continuation of InternationalApplication No. PCT/CN2016/075805, filed on Mar. 7, 2016. TheInternational Application claims priority to Chinese Patent ApplicationNo. 201510257300.2, filed on May 19, 2015. All of the afore-mentionedpatent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a downlink scheduling datamonitoring method, a downlink scheduling data sending method, and anapparatus.

BACKGROUND

With development of communications technologies, an machine-to-machine(M2M) communications system emerges. As shown in FIG. 1, the M2Mcommunications system is a network-based system architecture focusing onintelligent interaction between devices. An M2M technology provides ameans of real-time data transmission between systems, remote devices,and/or individuals, and a wireless communications module is built insidea device in the M2M communications system, to implement functions suchas performing monitoring, commanding and dispatching, data collection,and measurement on the device.

Currently, the M2M communications system is widely applied to manyscenarios, such as smart metering, environment monitoring, and remotemonitoring. For example, in a smart metering scenario, a device in theM2M communications system needs to periodically monitor and report useof water, electricity, and gas. When a user does not pay bills, thedevice remotely cuts off energy supply, and may update subscriptioninformation after a house tenant changes.

In a running process, the device in the M2M communications system needsto monitor downlink scheduling data, and the device in the M2Mcommunications system is powered by a battery. If the device is alwaysin a state of monitoring the downlink scheduling data, power consumptionof the device is relatively large; or if the device is always in a stateof not monitoring the downlink scheduling data, the downlink schedulingdata cannot be received in a timely manner. During monitoring ofdownlink scheduling data, it is apparently inappropriate to consideronly timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data withoutconsidering power consumption of a device. Likewise, it is alsoapparently inappropriate to consider only power consumption of a devicewithout considering timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data.

Therefore, how to better balance a relationship between power saving ofa device and timely receiving of downlink scheduling data is an urgentproblem that needs to be resolved in the M2M communications system.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a downlink scheduling datamonitoring method, a downlink scheduling data sending method, and anapparatus, so as to reduce power consumption of a device in an M2Mcommunications system without affecting timely receiving of downlinkscheduling data by the device, and better balance a relationship betweenpower saving of the device and timely receiving of the downlinkscheduling data.

According to a first aspect, a downlink scheduling data monitoringmethod is provided, including:

starting a timer; and

after it is determined that the timer expires, monitoring, by using afirst discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink schedulingdata sent by a base station, where

duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute orhour.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation,the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station includes:

monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in aconnected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementationof the first aspect, in a second possible implementation, before themonitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink schedulingdata sent by a base station, the method further includes:

receiving a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a minimum DRX monitoring cycleor a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station and a first DRX monitoring cycle supportedby the terminal as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a first DRX monitoring cycle reported by a terminal as the firstDRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the first aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation,the timer includes a ready timer (Ready Timer), and the ready timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready stateto a standby state.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the first aspect,in a fourth possible implementation, the timer further includes areduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer, and the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state;

the starting a timer includes:

starting the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting theready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer; and

the determining that the timer expires includes:

determining that the ready timer expires.

With reference to the first aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation,the timer includes an RDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured todetermine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a longsleep state;

before the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station, the method further includes:

determining an initial monitoring moment; and

determining a DRX monitoring moment according to the initial monitoringmoment, where the DRX monitoring moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst DRX monitoring cycles from the initial monitoring moment, and N isa positive integer greater than or equal to 0; and

the monitoring, by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station includes:

monitoring, at the DRX monitoring moment, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the first aspect,in a sixth possible implementation, the determining an initialmonitoring moment includes:

determining the initial monitoring moment according to an identifier ofthe terminal and the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial monitoring moment.

With reference to the first aspect or the first to sixth possibleimplementations of the first aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation, after the starting a timer, the method further includes:

when it is determined that the timer does not expire, monitoring, byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station, where

duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation of the firstaspect, in an eighth possible implementation, before the monitoring, byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station, the method further includes:

receiving a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a minimum DRX monitoring cycleor a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station and a second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the terminal as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a second DRX monitoring cycle reported by the terminal as thesecond DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe first aspect, in a ninth possible implementation, the timer includesa ready timer, and the ready timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state; and

the monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station includes:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation, the timer includesan RDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state; and

the monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station includes:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe first aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation, the timerincludes a ready timer and an RDR timer, the ready timer is configuredto determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to astandby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state;

the starting a timer includes:

starting the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting theready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer; and

the determining that the timer does not expire includes:

determining that the ready timer does not expire.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the firstaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation, after the determining thatthe timer does not expire, and before the monitoring, by using a secondDRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the basestation, the method further includes:

determining that the RDR timer does not expire; and the monitoring, byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station includes:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the firstaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation, after the determiningthat the timer does not expire, the method further includes:

determining that the RDR timer expires; and

monitoring, by using a third DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station, where

duration of the third DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

With reference to the thirteenth possible implementation of the firstaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation, before the monitoring,by using a third DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station, the method further includes:

receiving a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the third DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a maximum DRX cycle or aminimum DRX cycle in the third DRX monitoring cycle supported by thebase station and a third DRX monitoring cycle supported by the terminalas the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a third DRX monitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the thirdDRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the third to the fourteenth possible implementationsof the first aspect, in a fifteenth possible implementation, thestarting a timer includes:

starting the ready timer and/or the RDR timer, where the ready timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready stateto a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine thatthe terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

With reference to the fifteenth possible implementation of the firstaspect, in a sixteenth possible implementation, the starting the readytimer includes:

starting the ready timer when a last uplink logical link control LLCdata packet is sent; and

the starting the RDR timer includes:

starting the RDR timer when positive feedback information for a lastuplink Media Access Control (MAC) layer data packet is received.

According to a second aspect, a downlink scheduling data sending methodis provided, including:

receiving downlink scheduling data sent by a core network device to aterminal; and

when it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using a first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle,sending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a firstsending cycle, where

duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation,the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a first DRX monitoring cycle includes:

determining, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a pagingmessage, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementationof the second aspect, in a second possible implementation, before thesending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a firstsending cycle, the method further includes:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting a reduced downlink control signalreception RDR timer, where the RDR timer is configured to determine thatthe terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state;and

the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a first DRX monitoring cycle includes:

when it is determined that the RDR timer expires, determining that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRXmonitoring cycle.

With reference to the second aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the second aspect, in a third possibleimplementation, before the sending the downlink scheduling data to theterminal by using a first sending cycle, the method further includes:

sending the first DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; or sending, in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner, a first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by a base station to the terminal; and/or

sending, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thefirst DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the secondaspect, in a fourth possible implementation, before the sending thedownlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle,the method further includes:

determining an initial sending moment;

determining a DRX sending moment according to the initial sendingmoment, where the DRX sending moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst sending cycles from the initial sending moment, and N is apositive integer greater than or equal to 0; and

sending the downlink scheduling data at the DRX sending moment.

With reference to the second aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the second aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, the determining an initial sending moment includes:

determining the initial sending moment according to an identifier of theterminal and the first sending cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial sending moment,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the secondaspect, in a sixth possible implementation, before the determining thatthe terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first DRXmonitoring cycle, the method further includes:

determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, and sending the downlink schedulingdata to the terminal by using a second sending cycle, where

duration of the second sending cycle is in a unit of millisecond orsecond.

With reference to the second aspect or the first to the sixth possibleimplementations of the second aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation, the determining that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle includes:

determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation of the secondaspect, in an eighth possible implementation, before the sending thedownlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a second sendingcycle, the method further includes:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting an RDR timer, where the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state; and

the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a second DRX monitoring cycle includes:

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, and the RDR timer does not expire, determining that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoringcycle.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe second aspect, in a ninth possible implementation, before thesending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a secondsending cycle, the method further includes:

sending the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; or sending, in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner, a second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station to the terminal; and/or sending, in a formof uplink data at a logical link control layer, the second DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the base station to the core networkdevice.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe second aspect, in a tenth possible implementation, before thesending the downlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a firstsending cycle, the method further includes:

when it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using a third DRX monitoring cycle, sending the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a third sending cycle, where

duration of the third sending cycle is from a millisecond range to asecond range.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe second aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation, before thedetermining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing a third DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting an RDR timer, where the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state; and

the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a third DRX monitoring cycle includes:

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, and the RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the secondaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation, before the determiningthat the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a thirdDRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes:

sending the third DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; and/or

sending the third DRX monitoring cycle to the core network device in aform of uplink data at a logical link control layer.

According to a third aspect, a terminal is provided, including:

a starting unit, configured to start a timer;

a determining unit, configured to determine that the timer expires; and

a monitoring unit, configured to: after the determining unit determinesthat the timer expires, monitor, by using a first discontinuousreception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a basestation, where

duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute orhour.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation,the monitoring unit is configured to:

monitor, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in aconnected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementationof the third aspect, in a second possible implementation, the terminalfurther includes a receiving unit, the receiving unit is configured toreceive a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station ina broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supportedby the base station, and the determining unit is further configured touse the first DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as thefirst DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit is configured to receive a first DRX monitoring cyclethat is sent by the base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner and that is supported by the base station, and thedetermining unit is further configured to use a minimum DRX monitoringcycle or a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the first DRX monitoringcycle supported by the base station and a first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the terminal as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

the determining unit is further configured to use a first DRX monitoringcycle reported by the terminal as the first DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the third aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation,the timer includes a ready timer (Ready Timer), and the ready timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready stateto a standby state.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the third aspect,in a fourth possible implementation, the timer further includes areduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer, and the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state;

the starting unit is configured to start the ready timer and the RDRtimer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a timeof starting the RDR timer; and

the determining unit is configured to determine that the ready timerexpires.

With reference to the third aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the third aspect, in a fifth possible implementation,the timer includes an RDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured todetermine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a longsleep state;

the determining unit is further configured to: determine an initialmonitoring moment; and

determine a DRX monitoring moment according to the initial monitoringmoment, where the DRX monitoring moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst DRX monitoring cycles from the initial monitoring moment, and N isa positive integer greater than or equal to 0; and

the monitoring unit is configured to monitor, at the DRX monitoringmoment, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the third aspect,in a sixth possible implementation, that the determining unit determinesan initial monitoring moment is:

determining the initial monitoring moment according to an identifier ofthe terminal and the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial monitoring moment.

With reference to the third aspect or the first to the sixth possibleimplementations of the third aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation, the determining unit is further configured to determinethat the timer does not expire; and

the monitoring unit is further configured to: when the determining unitdetermines that the timer does not expire, monitor, by using a secondDRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by the basestation, where

duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the terminal furtherincludes a receiving unit, the receiving unit is configured to receive asecond DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in abroadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supportedby the base station, and the determining unit is further configured touse the second DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as thesecond DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a second DRXmonitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manneror a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the basestation, and the determining unit is further configured to use a minimumDRX monitoring cycle or a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the second DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the base station and a second DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the terminal as the second DRX monitoringcycle; or

the determining unit is further configured to use a second DRXmonitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the second DRX monitoringcycle.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe third aspect, in a ninth possible implementation, the timer includesa ready timer, and the ready timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state; and

the monitoring unit is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state,the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe third aspect, in a tenth possible implementation, the timer includesan RDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state; and

the monitoring unit is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connectedstate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe third aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation, the timerincludes a ready timer and an RDR timer, the ready timer is configuredto determine that the terminal is switched from a ready state to astandby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state;

the starting unit is configured to start the ready timer and the RDRtimer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a timeof starting the RDR timer; and

that the determining unit determines that the timer does not expire is:

determining that the ready timer does not expire.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation, the determining unit isfurther configured to determine that the RDR timer does not expire; and

the monitoring unit is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connectedstate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation, the determining unit isfurther configured to determine that the RDR timer expires; and

the monitoring unit is further configured to monitor, by using a thirdDRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idlestate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station, where

duration of the third DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

With reference to the thirteenth possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation, the terminal furtherincludes a receiving unit, the receiving unit is configured to receive athird DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in abroadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that is supportedby the base station, and the determining unit is further configured touse the third DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station as thethird DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a third DRXmonitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manneror a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the basestation, and the determining unit is further configured to use a maximumDRX cycle or a minimum DRX cycle in the third DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station and a third DRX monitoring cycle supportedby the terminal as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

the determining unit is further configured to use a third DRX monitoringcycle reported by the terminal as the third DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the third to the fourteenth possible implementationsof the third aspect, in a fifteenth possible implementation, thestarting unit is configured to start the ready timer and/or the RDRtimer, the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a ready state to a standby state, and the RDR timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connectedstate to a long sleep state.

With reference to the fifteenth possible implementation of the thirdaspect, in a sixteenth possible implementation, that the starting unitstarts the ready timer is:

starting the ready timer when a last uplink logical link control LLCdata packet is sent; and

that the starting unit starts the RDR timer is:

starting the RDR timer when positive feedback information for a lastuplink MAC layer data packet is received.

According to a fourth aspect, a base station is provided, including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive downlink scheduling data sent bya core network device to a terminal;

a determining unit, configured to determine that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using a first discontinuous receptionDRX monitoring cycle; and

a sending unit, configured to: when the determining unit determines thatthe terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the firstdiscontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle, where

duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation,the determining unit is configured to: determine, according to the firstDRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRXmonitoring cycle; or

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message,determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the first DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementationof the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation, the receivingunit is further configured to receive a last uplink MAC layer datapacket sent by the terminal;

the sending unit is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal;

the base station further includes a starting unit, configured to start areduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer when the sendingunit sends the positive feedback information for the last uplink MAClayer data packet to the terminal, where the RDR timer is configured todetermine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a longsleep state; and

the determining unit is configured to: when determining that the RDRtimer expires, determine that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the fourth aspect, in a third possibleimplementation, the sending unit is further configured to: send thefirst DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or adedicated signaling manner; or send, in a broadcast manner or adedicated signaling manner, a first DRX monitoring cycle supported bythe base station to the terminal; and/or

send, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thefirst DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

With reference to the third possible implementation of the fourthaspect, in a fourth possible implementation, the determining unit isfurther configured to: determine an initial sending moment; anddetermine a DRX sending moment according to the initial sending moment,where the DRX sending moment is a moment at a distance of N firstsending cycles from the initial sending moment, and N is a positiveinteger greater than or equal to 0; and

the sending unit is configured to send the downlink scheduling data atthe DRX sending moment.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first to the second possibleimplementations of the fourth aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation, that the determining unit determines an initial sendingmoment is:

determining the initial sending moment according to an identifier of theterminal and the first sending cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial sending moment,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

With reference to the fifth possible implementation of the fourthaspect, in a sixth possible implementation, the determining unit isfurther configured to determine that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle; and

the sending unit is further configured to send the downlink schedulingdata to the terminal by using a second sending cycle, where

duration of the second sending cycle is in a unit of millisecond orsecond.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first to the sixth possibleimplementations of the fourth aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation, that the determining unit determines that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoringcycle is:

determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data,determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the second DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the seventh possible implementation of the fourthaspect, in an eighth possible implementation, the receiving unit isfurther configured to receive a last uplink MAC layer data packet sentby the terminal;

the sending unit is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal;

the base station further includes a starting unit, configured to startan RDR timer when the sending unit sends the positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state; and

that the determining unit determines that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle is:

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, andthe RDR timer does not expire, determining that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe fourth aspect, in a ninth possible implementation, the sending unitis further configured to: send the second DRX monitoring cycle to theterminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner; or send,in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner, a second DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the base station to the terminal; and/or

send, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thesecond DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe fourth aspect, in a tenth possible implementation, the determiningunit is further configured to determine that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle; and

the sending unit is further configured to: when the determining unitdetermines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the third DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlink scheduling datato the terminal by using a third sending cycle, where

duration of the third sending cycle is from a millisecond range to asecond range.

With reference to the seventh or the eighth possible implementation ofthe fourth aspect, in an eleventh possible implementation, the receivingunit is further configured to receive a last uplink MAC layer datapacket sent by the terminal;

the sending unit is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal;

the base station further includes a starting unit, configured to startan RDR timer when the sending unit sends the positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state; and

that the determining unit determines that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle is:

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, andthe RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation of the fourthaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation, the sending unit isfurther configured to: send the third DRX monitoring cycle to theterminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner; and/or

send the third DRX monitoring cycle to the core network device in a formof uplink data at a logical link control layer.

In the prior art, even though a timer expires, downlink scheduling datais monitored by using a DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unitof second or millisecond, and consequently, power consumption isrelatively large, and a relationship between power saving of a deviceand timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data cannot be balanced.However, in the embodiments of the present invention, after it isdetermined that the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data ismonitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in aunit of minute or hour, and in this way, not only power consumption isreduced, but also the downlink scheduling data can be monitored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an M2M system in the prior art;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a Gb architecture in an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2B is another schematic diagram of a Gb architecture in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2C is another schematic diagram of a Gb architecture in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of an S1 architecture in an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of monitoring downlink scheduling data in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of sending downlink scheduling data in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal in an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5B is another schematic structural diagram of a terminal in anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a schematic structural diagram of a base station in anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6B is another schematic structural diagram of a base station in anembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of theembodiments of the present invention clearer, the following clearlydescribes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodimentsof the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are somebut not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All otherembodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art based onthe embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shallfall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Technologies described in this specification may be applied to variouscommunications systems, for example, current 2G and 3G communicationssystems, an Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications system, and anext-generation communications system, for example, a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)system, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system, a Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, an Frequency Division MultipleAccess (FDMA) system, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access(OFDMA) system, a single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) system, a general packetradio service (GPRS) system, and other such communications systems.

In the following, an application architecture in this application isdescribed, so as to help persons skilled in the art have a betterunderstanding.

The present invention may be applied to a Gb architecture, and only aready timer may be used in the Gb architecture. As shown in FIG. 2A, ina scenario in which only the ready timer is used, within a time periodin which the ready timer does not expire, downlink scheduling data ismonitored by using a second DRX (Discontinuous Reception, discontinuousreception) monitoring cycle, and within a time period after the readytimer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using afirst DRX monitoring cycle. Further, an RDR timer may be used. As shownin FIG. 2B, within a time period in which neither the ready timer northe RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored byusing the second DRX monitoring cycle, and within a time period afterthe ready timer expires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored byusing the first DRX monitoring cycle. In this case, when the ready timerexpires, the RDR timer needs to stop even though the RDR timer does notexpire. In FIG. 2B, a case in which the ready timer expires, but the RDRtimer does not expire is described. Certainly, when the ready timerexpires, the RDR timer may have expired. As shown in FIG. 2C, within atime period in which neither the ready timer nor the RDR timer expires,the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle; within a time period in which the ready timer does notexpire, but the RDR timer expires, the downlink scheduling data ismonitored by using a third DRX monitoring cycle; and within a timeperiod after the ready timer expires, the downlink scheduling data ismonitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute or hour, and boththe second DRX monitoring cycle and the third DRX monitoring cycle arein a unit of millisecond or second. The second DRX monitoring cycle maybe the same as or different from the third DRX monitoring cycle.

The present invention may be applied to an S1 architecture, and only anRDR timer may be used in the S1 architecture. As shown in FIG. 2D, in ascenario of the RDR timer, within a time period in which the RDR timerdoes not expire, downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a secondDRX monitoring cycle, and within a time period after the RDR timerexpires, the downlink scheduling data is monitored by using a first DRXmonitoring cycle.

It should be noted that, a ready timer is a timer that is maintained byboth a terminal and a core network. The core network herein may refer toan Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) GPRS. The terminal starts the readytimer after sending a last uplink LLC data packet, and the core networkstarts the ready timer after receiving the last uplink LLC data packet.An RDR timer is a timer that is set by both a terminal and a basestation. On a terminal side, the terminal starts the RDR timer aftersending a last uplink MAC layer data packet and receiving positivefeedback information for the MAC layer data packet from the basestation. After a ready timer on the terminal side expires, if the RDRtimer does not expire, the terminal stops the RDR timer, and releases aconnection on the terminal side. On a base station side, the basestation starts the RDR timer after receiving the last uplink MAC layerdata packet sent by the terminal and sending the positive feedbackinformation for the MAC layer data packet to the terminal. In the Gbarchitecture, after a base station receives a paging message deliveredby a core network, if an RDR timer does not expire, the RDR timer stops,and a connection to a terminal is released. If the timer expires, thebase station releases a connection to the terminal. In the S1architecture, after an RDR timer expires, a base station initiates aconnection release request to a core network, and the core networkreleases an S1 connection to a terminal, and the base station releasesan air interface connection to the terminal.

The following describes implementations of the present invention indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should beunderstood that, the embodiments described herein are merely used todescribe and explain the present invention, but are not intended tolimit the present invention. In addition, the embodiments in thisapplication and features in the embodiments may be mutually combined ifthey do not conflict with each other.

The following describes the embodiments of the present invention indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 3, in an embodiment of the present invention, aprocedure of monitoring downlink scheduling data is as follows:

Step 300: Start a timer.

Step 310: After it is determined that the timer expires, monitor, byusing a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by abase station.

Duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute orhour.

In the prior art, even though a timer expires, downlink scheduling datais monitored by using a DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in a unitof second or millisecond, and consequently, power consumption isrelatively large, and a relationship between power saving of a deviceand timely receiving of the downlink scheduling data cannot be balanced.However, in this embodiment of the present invention, after it isdetermined that the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data ismonitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle whose duration is in aunit of minute or hour, and in this way, not only power consumption isreduced, but also the downlink scheduling data can be monitored.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple mannersof monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station. For example, the followingseveral manners may be used:

monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in aconnected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

In three scenarios shown in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2C in a Gbarchitecture, after a ready timer expires, all terminals return to anidle state. In this case, the monitoring, by using a first DRXmonitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station mayinclude: monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle accordingto the scheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink schedulingdata sent by the base station.

In a scenario shown in FIG. 2D in an S1 architecture, after an RDR timerexpires, a terminal may return to a long sleep state in an idle state,or may be still in a long sleep state in a connected state.

In the scenario shown in FIG. 2D, after the RDR timer expires, if theterminal returns to a long sleep state in an idle state, the monitoring,by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent bya base station may include: monitoring, by using the first DRXmonitoring cycle according to the scheduling identifier in an idlestate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

After the RDR timer expires, if the terminal returns to a long sleepstate in a connected state, the monitoring, by using a first DRXmonitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a base station mayinclude: monitoring, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle accordingto the scheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the firstDRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the followingoperation:

receiving a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a minimum DRX monitoring cycleor a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station and a first DRX monitoring cycle supportedby a terminal as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a first DRX monitoring cycle reported by a terminal as the firstDRX monitoring cycle.

Certainly, further, the terminal may send the supported first DRXmonitoring cycle to a core network device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the timer described in step300 may include only a ready timer (Ready Timer). As shown in FIG. 2A,the ready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switchedfrom a ready state to a standby state. That is, before the ready timerexpires, the terminal is in a ready state, and after the ready timerexpires, the terminal is in a standby state.

If only the ready timer is included, the starting a timer may include:

starting the ready timer; and

the determining that the timer expires may include:

determining that the ready timer expires.

Certainly, an RDR timer (Timer) may be further included. As shown inFIGS. 2B and 2C, the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state. Thatis, when the RDR timer does not expire, the terminal is in a connectedstate, and after the RDR timer expires, the terminal is in a long sleepstate. The long sleep state includes a long sleep state in an idle stateor a long sleep state in a connected state.

In this case, the starting a timer may include:

starting the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting theready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer.

Although both the ready timer and the RDR timer are included, thedetermining that the timer expires may include:

determining that the ready timer expires.

That is, although both the ready timer and the RDR timer are included,the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station may be monitoredby using the first DRX monitoring cycle provided that the ready timerexpires. In this case, if the ready timer expires, but the RDR timerdoes not expire, the RDR timer needs to stop, and a connection isreleased.

The foregoing describes a case in which the timer includes only a readytimer, or includes both a ready timer and an RDR timer. However, inactual application, the timer may include only an RDR timer. In thiscase, in the S1 architecture shown in FIG. 2D, the starting a timer mayinclude:

starting the RDR timer; and

the determining that the timer expires may include:

determining that the RDR timer expires.

When the timer includes only the RDR timer, and the terminal is in along sleep state in a connected state after the RDR timer expires,before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station ismonitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle, the method furtherincludes the following operations:

determining an initial monitoring moment; and

determining a DRX monitoring moment according to the initial monitoringmoment, where the DRX monitoring moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst DRX monitoring cycles from the initial monitoring moment, and N isa positive integer greater than or equal to 0.

In this case, there are multiple manners of monitoring, by using thefirst DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by thebase station. Optionally, the following manner may be used:

monitoring, at the DRX monitoring moment, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

There are multiple manners of determining the initial monitoring moment.Optionally, the following manner may be used:

determining the initial monitoring moment according to an identifier ofthe terminal and the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial monitoring moment.

The foregoing describes a case in which after the timer starts, it isdetermined that the timer expires. Certainly, a case in which after thetimer starts, the timer does not expire exists. The following describesthe case in which the timer does not expire.

Therefore, after the timer starts, the method further includes thefollowing operation:

when it is determined that the timer does not expire, monitoring, byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station.

Duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

That is, after the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data sent bythe base station is monitored by using the first DRX monitoring cycle,and before the timer expires, the downlink scheduling data sent by thebase station is monitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

Before the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station ismonitored by using the second DRX monitoring cycle, the method furtherincludes the following operation:

receiving a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a minimum DRX monitoring cycleor a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station and a second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the terminal as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a second DRX monitoring cycle reported by the terminal as thesecond DRX monitoring cycle.

Certainly, when the timer does not expire, three cases exist. Forexample, the timer includes only a ready timer, or includes only an RDRtimer, or includes both a ready timer and an RDR timer. The followingseparately gives description.

When the timer includes only the ready timer, the determining that thetimer does not expire may include:

determining that the ready timer does not expire; and

optionally, the monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, thedownlink scheduling data sent by the base station may include:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

Alternatively, when the timer includes only the RDR timer, thedetermining that the timer does not expire may include:

determining that the RDR timer does not expire; and

the monitoring, by using a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station may include:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

Alternatively, when the timer includes the ready timer and the RDRtimer, the starting a timer may include:

starting the ready timer and the RDR timer, where a time of starting theready timer is earlier than a time of starting the RDR timer; and

the determining that the timer does not expire may include:

determining that the ready timer does not expire.

However, when it is determined that the ready timer does not expire, theRDR timer may expire, or may not expire. When the ready timer does notexpire, and the RDR timer does not expire either, the monitoring, byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sentby the base station may include:

monitoring, by using the second DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in a connected state, the downlink scheduling datasent by the base station.

Certainly, when the ready timer does not expire, but the RDR timerexpires, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station needs tobe monitored by using a third DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state.

Duration of the third DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

It should be noted that, the second DRX monitoring cycle may be the sameas or different from the third DRX monitoring cycle. This is not limitedherein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the thirdDRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the followingoperation:

receiving a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using the third DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

receiving a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent by the base stationin a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner and that issupported by the base station, and using a maximum DRX cycle or aminimum DRX cycle in the third DRX monitoring cycle supported by thebase station and a third DRX monitoring cycle supported by the terminalas the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

using a third DRX monitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the thirdDRX monitoring cycle.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple mannersof starting the timer. Optionally, the following manner may be used:

starting the ready timer and/or the RDR timer, where the ready timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready stateto a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured to determine thatthe terminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

There are multiple manners of starting the ready timer. Optionally, thefollowing manner may be used:

starting the ready timer when a last uplink logical link control (LLC)data packet is sent.

There are multiple manners of starting the RDR timer. Optionally, thefollowing manner may be used:

starting the RDR timer when positive feedback information for a lastuplink MAC layer data packet is received.

When monitoring the downlink scheduling data, for example, afterobtaining a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI) by meansof monitoring, the terminal reads a paging record on a paging resourceindicated by the P-RNTI. If there is a paging record that includes theidentifier of the terminal, it indicates that the terminal is paged. Ifthere is no paging record that includes the identifier of the terminal,it indicates that the terminal is not paged.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the downlink schedulingdata is downlink data, or may be a paging message, and certainly, may bein another form. This is not limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data sent by the base station is monitored by using the firstDRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the followingoperations:

sending an access request to the base station;

receiving resource configuration information allocated by the basestation according to the access request; and

transmitting data between the base station and a core network accordingto the resource configuration information.

The scheduling identifier in a connected state is in many forms, andoptionally, may be a TBF (Temporary Block Flow, temporary block flow),or may be a C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier, cell radionetwork temporary identifier).

The scheduling identifier in an idle state is also in many forms, andoptionally, may be a UE-dedicated scheduling identifier in an idlestate, for example, a temporary logical link identifier (TLLI), an SAEtemporary mobile subscriber identity (S-TMSI), system architectureevolution (SAE)), a PS temporary mobile subscriber identity (P-TMSI),packet switched (PS)), an international mobile subscriber identity(IMSI), or an IMSI mod N, or may be a common scheduling identifier in anidle state, for example, a paging radio network temporary identifier(P-RNTI).

Referring to FIG. 4, in an embodiment of the present invention, aprocedure of sending downlink scheduling data is as follows:

Step 400: Receive downlink scheduling data sent by a core network deviceto a terminal.

Step 410: When it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using a first DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle.

Duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple mannersof determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using the first DRX monitoring cycle. Optionally, the followingmanner may be used:

determining, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a pagingmessage, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

That is, if the downlink scheduling data directly carries the first DRXmonitoring cycle, it may be directly determined, according to the firstDRX monitoring cycle, that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. If the downlink schedulingdata does not carry the first DRX monitoring cycle, a type of thedownlink scheduling data may be determined. If the type of the downlinkscheduling data is a paging message, it is determined that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoringcycle.

The foregoing two cases are applied to scenarios shown in FIG. 2A, FIG.2B, and FIG. 2C in a Gb architecture, and is also applied to a scenarioin which after an RDR timer expires, a terminal is in an idle state andthat is shown in FIG. 2D.

Certainly, when an RDR timer expires, it may be determined that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRXmonitoring cycle.

After an RDR timer in an S1 architecture expires, when the terminal isin a long sleep state in a connected state, it may be determined, byadding the first DRX monitoring cycle to the downlink scheduling data,that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using thefirst DRX monitoring cycle; or

it may be determined, by determining that the RDR timer expires, thatthe terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the firstDRX monitoring cycle.

Therefore, in this embodiment of the present invention, before thedownlink scheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the firstsending cycle, the method further includes the following operations:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting an RDR timer, where the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state.

The following manner may be used to determine that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using the first discontinuous receptionDRX monitoring cycle:

when it is determined that the RDR timer expires, determining that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRXmonitoring cycle.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sendingcycle, the method further includes the following operations:

sending the first DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; or sending, in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner, a first DRX monitoring cyclesupported by a base station to the terminal; and/or

sending, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thefirst DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the first sendingcycle, the method further includes:

determining an initial sending moment;

determining a DRX sending moment according to the initial sendingmoment, where the DRX sending moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst sending cycles from the initial sending moment, and N is apositive integer greater than or equal to 0; and

sending the downlink scheduling data at the DRX sending moment.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple mannersof determining the initial sending moment. Optionally, the followingmanner may be used:

determining the initial sending moment according to an identifier of theterminal and the first sending cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial sending moment,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to an idle state.

The foregoing manner of determining the DRX sending moment is applied toa case in which when an RDR timer expires in the S1 architecture, theterminal is still in a long sleep state in a connected state.

In the foregoing description, it is determined that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoringcycle. Certainly, the terminal may monitor the downlink scheduling databy using a second DRX monitoring cycle. In this case, the base stationneeds to send the downlink scheduling data by using a second sendingcycle corresponding to the second DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, inthis embodiment of the present invention, before it is determined thatthe terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the firstdiscontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, the method furtherincludes the following operation:

determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing a second DRX monitoring cycle, and sending the downlink schedulingdata to the terminal by using a second sending cycle.

Duration of the second sending cycle is in a unit of millisecond orsecond.

In this embodiment of the present invention, there are multiple mannersof determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using the second DRX monitoring cycle. Optionally, the followingmanner may be used:

determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

Certainly, for scenarios shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C, when the downlinkscheduling data is downlink data, the terminal may not monitor thedownlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.Further, when an RDR timer starts and does not expire, it is determinedthat the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using thesecond DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, in this embodiment of thepresent invention, before the downlink scheduling data is sent to theterminal by using the second sending cycle, the method further includesthe following operations:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting an RDR timer, where the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state; and

the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a second DRX monitoring cycle includes:

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, and the RDR timer does not expire, determining that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoringcycle.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before the downlinkscheduling data is sent to the terminal by using the second sendingcycle, the method further includes the following operations:

sending the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; or sending, in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner, a second DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the base station to the terminal; and/or

sending, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thesecond DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

In FIG. 2C, within a time period in which a ready timer does not expire,but an RDR timer expires, the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using a third DRX monitoring cycle. Therefore, in thisembodiment of the present invention, before the downlink scheduling datais sent to the terminal by using the first sending cycle, the methodfurther includes the following operation:

when it is determined that the terminal monitors the downlink schedulingdata by using a third DRX monitoring cycle, sending the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a third sending cycle.

Duration of the third sending cycle is from a millisecond range to asecond range.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before it is determinedthat the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using thethird DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the followingoperations:

receiving a last uplink MAC layer data packet sent by the terminal; and

sending positive feedback information for the last uplink MAC layer datapacket to the terminal, and starting an RDR timer, where the RDR timeris configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aconnected state to a long sleep state; and

the determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using a third DRX monitoring cycle includes:

when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlinkdata, and the RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle.

In this embodiment of the present invention, before it is determinedthat the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using thethird DRX monitoring cycle, the method further includes the followingoperations:

sending the third DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcastmanner or a dedicated signaling manner; and/or

sending the third DRX monitoring cycle to the core network device in aform of uplink data at a logical link control layer.

It should be noted that, the third sending cycle may be the same as ordifferent from the second sending cycle. This is not limited herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the first DRX monitoringcycle, the second DRX monitoring cycle, and the third DRX monitoringcycle that are sent by the base station to the terminal may bedetermined by the base station, or may be sent by a core network.Certainly, another manner may be used, and this is not limited herein.

Referring to FIG. 5A, a schematic diagram of a terminal is provided inan embodiment of the present invention. The terminal includes a startingunit 50, a determining unit 51, and a monitoring unit 52.

The starting unit 50 is configured to start a timer.

The determining unit 51 is configured to determine that the timerexpires.

The monitoring unit 52 is configured to: after the determining unit 51determines that the timer expires, monitor, by using a firstdiscontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling datasent by a base station.

Duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute orhour.

Optionally, the monitoring unit 52 is configured to:

monitor, by using the first DRX monitoring cycle according to ascheduling identifier in an idle state or a scheduling identifier in aconnected state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit 53. The receiving unit 53is configured to receive a first DRX monitoring cycle that is sent bythe base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling mannerand that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit 51is further configured to use the first DRX monitoring cycle supported bythe base station as the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit 53 is configured to receive a first DRX monitoringcycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manner or adedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the base station,and the determining unit 51 is further configured to use a minimum DRXmonitoring cycle or a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in the first DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the base station and a first DRXmonitoring cycle supported by the terminal as the first DRX monitoringcycle; or

the determining unit 51 is further configured to use a first DRXmonitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the first DRX monitoringcycle.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer (Ready Timer), and theready timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switchedfrom a ready state to a standby state.

The timer further includes a reduced downlink control signal receptionRDR timer, and the RDR timer is configured to determine that theterminal is switched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The starting unit 50 is configured to start the ready timer and the RDRtimer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a timeof starting the RDR timer.

The determining unit 51 is configured to determine that the ready timerexpires.

Optionally, the timer includes an RDR timer, and the RDR timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connectedstate to a long sleep state.

The determining unit 51 is further configured to: determine an initialmonitoring moment; and

determine a DRX monitoring moment according to the initial monitoringmoment, where the DRX monitoring moment is a moment at a distance of Nfirst DRX monitoring cycles from the initial monitoring moment, and N isa positive integer greater than or equal to 0.

The monitoring unit 52 is configured to monitor, at the DRX monitoringmoment, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, that the determining unit 51 determines an initialmonitoring moment is:

determining the initial monitoring moment according to an identifier ofthe terminal and the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial monitoring moment.

The determining unit 51 is further configured to determine that thetimer does not expire.

The monitoring unit 52 is further configured to: when the determiningunit 51 determines that the timer does not expire, monitor, by using asecond DRX monitoring cycle, the downlink scheduling data sent by thebase station.

Duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit 53. The receiving unit 53is configured to receive a second DRX monitoring cycle that is sent bythe base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling mannerand that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit 51is further configured to use the second DRX monitoring cycle supportedby the base station as the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit 53 is further configured to receive a second DRXmonitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manneror a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the basestation, and the determining unit 51 is further configured to use aminimum DRX monitoring cycle or a maximum DRX monitoring cycle in thesecond DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station and a secondDRX monitoring cycle supported by the terminal as the second DRXmonitoring cycle; or

the determining unit 51 is further configured to use a second DRXmonitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the second DRX monitoringcycle.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer, and the ready timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a ready stateto a standby state.

The monitoring unit 52 is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in an idle state,the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, the timer includes an RDR timer, and the RDR timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connectedstate to a long sleep state.

The monitoring unit 52 is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connectedstate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Optionally, the timer includes a ready timer and an RDR timer, the readytimer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched from aready state to a standby state, and the RDR timer is configured todetermine that the terminal is switched from a connected state to a longsleep state.

The starting unit 50 is configured to start the ready timer and the RDRtimer, where a time of starting the ready timer is earlier than a timeof starting the RDR timer.

That the determining unit 51 determines that the timer does not expireis:

determining that the ready timer does not expire.

The determining unit 51 is further configured to determine that the RDRtimer does not expire.

The monitoring unit 52 is configured to monitor, by using the second DRXmonitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in a connectedstate, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

The determining unit 51 is further configured to determine that the RDRtimer expires.

The monitoring unit 52 is further configured to monitor, by using athird DRX monitoring cycle according to a scheduling identifier in anidle state, the downlink scheduling data sent by the base station.

Duration of the third DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of millisecondor second.

The terminal further includes a receiving unit 53. The receiving unit 53is configured to receive a third DRX monitoring cycle that is sent bythe base station in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling mannerand that is supported by the base station, and the determining unit 51is further configured to use the third DRX monitoring cycle supported bythe base station as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

the receiving unit 53 is further configured to receive a third DRXmonitoring cycle that is sent by the base station in a broadcast manneror a dedicated signaling manner and that is supported by the basestation, and the determining unit 51 is further configured to use amaximum DRX cycle or a minimum DRX cycle in the third DRX monitoringcycle supported by the base station and a third DRX monitoring cyclesupported by the terminal as the third DRX monitoring cycle; or

the determining unit 51 is further configured to use a third DRXmonitoring cycle reported by the terminal as the third DRX monitoringcycle.

Optionally, the starting unit 50 is configured to start the ready timerand/or the RDR timer, the ready timer is configured to determine thatthe terminal is switched from a ready state to a standby state, and theRDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal is switched froma connected state to a long sleep state.

Optionally, that the starting unit 50 starts the ready timer is:

starting the ready timer when a last uplink logical link control LLCdata packet is sent; and

that the starting unit 50 starts the RDR timer is:

starting the RDR timer when positive feedback information for a lastuplink MAC layer data packet is received.

Referring to FIG. 5B, a schematic diagram of a terminal is provided inan embodiment of the present invention. The terminal includes aprocessor 500 and a receiver 510.

The processor 500 is configured to start a timer.

The processor 500 is further configured to determine that the timerexpires.

The receiver 510 is configured to: after the processor 500 determinesthat the timer expires, monitor, by using a first discontinuousreception DRX monitoring cycle, downlink scheduling data sent by a basestation.

Duration of the first DRX monitoring cycle is in a unit of minute orhour.

It should be noted that, the processor 500 may further perform otheroperations performed by the starting unit 50 and the determining unit 51that are shown in FIG. 5A, and the receiver 510 may further performother operations performed by the monitoring unit 52 and the receivingunit 53 that are shown in FIG. 5A.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a schematic diagram of a base station is providedin an embodiment of the present invention. The base station includes areceiving unit 60, a determining unit 61, and a sending unit 62.

The receiving unit 60 is configured to receive downlink scheduling datasent by a core network device to a terminal.

The determining unit 61 is configured to determine that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first discontinuousreception DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is configured to: when the determining unit 61determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the first discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, send thedownlink scheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle.

Duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

Optionally, the determining unit 61 is configured to: determine,according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlinkscheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling databy using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message,determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The receiving unit 60 is further configured to receive a last uplink MAClayer data packet sent by the terminal.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal.

The base station further includes a starting unit 63, configured tostart a reduced downlink control signal reception RDR timer when thesending unit 62 sends the positive feedback information for the lastuplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal, where the RDR timer isconfigured to determine that the terminal is switched from a connectedstate to a long sleep state.

The determining unit 61 is configured to: when determining that the RDRtimer expires, determine that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to: send the first DRXmonitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner; or send, in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner, a first DRX monitoring cycle supported by the basestation to the terminal; and/or send, in a form of uplink data at alogical link control layer, the first DRX monitoring cycle supported bythe base station to the core network device.

The determining unit 61 is further configured to: determine an initialsending moment; and determine a DRX sending moment according to theinitial sending moment, where the DRX sending moment is a moment at adistance of N first sending cycles from the initial sending moment, andN is a positive integer greater than or equal to 0.

The sending unit 62 is configured to send the downlink scheduling dataat the DRX sending moment.

Optionally, that the determining unit 61 determines an initial sendingmoment is:

determining the initial sending moment according to an identifier of theterminal and the first sending cycle; or

using an end moment of the DRD timer as the initial sending moment,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

The determining unit 61 is further configured to determine that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRXmonitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to send the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a second sending cycle.

Duration of the second sending cycle is in a unit of millisecond orsecond.

Optionally, that the determining unit 61 determines that the terminalmonitors the downlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoringcycle is:

determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in thedownlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlinkscheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data,determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the second DRX monitoring cycle.

The receiving unit 60 is further configured to receive a last uplink MAClayer data packet sent by the terminal.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal.

The base station further includes a starting unit 63, configured tostart an RDR timer when the sending unit 62 sends the positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

That the determining unit 61 determines that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using a second DRX monitoring cycle is:

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, andthe RDR timer does not expire, determining that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to: send the second DRXmonitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner; or send, in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner, a second DRX monitoring cycle supported by the basestation to the terminal; and/or

send, in a form of uplink data at a logical link control layer, thesecond DRX monitoring cycle supported by the base station to the corenetwork device.

The determining unit 61 is further configured to determine that theterminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a third DRXmonitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to: when the determining unit61 determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data byusing the third DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlink scheduling datato the terminal by using a third sending cycle.

Duration of the third sending cycle is from a millisecond range to asecond range.

The receiving unit 60 is further configured to receive a last uplink MAClayer data packet sent by the terminal.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to send positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal.

The base station further includes a starting unit 63, configured tostart an RDR timer when the sending unit 62 sends the positive feedbackinformation for the last uplink MAC layer data packet to the terminal,where the RDR timer is configured to determine that the terminal isswitched from a connected state to a long sleep state.

That the determining unit 61 determines that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using a third DRX monitoring cycle is:

when determining that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, andthe RDR timer expires, determining that the terminal monitors thedownlink scheduling data by using the third DRX monitoring cycle.

The sending unit 62 is further configured to: send the third DRXmonitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicatedsignaling manner; and/or

send the third DRX monitoring cycle to the core network device in a formof uplink data at a logical link control layer.

Referring to FIG. 6B, a schematic diagram of a base station is providedin an embodiment of the present invention. The base station includes areceiver 600, a processor 610, and a transmitter 620.

The receiver 600 is configured to receive downlink scheduling data sentby a core network device to the terminal.

The processor 610 is configured to determine that the terminal monitorsthe downlink scheduling data by using a first discontinuous receptionDRX monitoring cycle.

The transmitter 620 is configured to: when the processor 610 determinesthat the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using thefirst discontinuous reception DRX monitoring cycle, send the downlinkscheduling data to the terminal by using a first sending cycle.

Duration of the first sending cycle is in a unit of minute or hour.

It should be noted that, the receiver 600 may further perform otheroperations performed by the receiving unit 60 shown in FIG. 6A, theprocessor 610 may further perform other operations performed by thedetermining unit 61 and the starting unit 63 that are shown in FIG. 6A,and the transmitter 620 may further perform other operations performedby the sending unit 62 shown in FIG. 6A.

The present invention is described with reference to the flowchartsand/or block diagrams of the method, the device (system), and thecomputer program product according to the embodiments of the presentinvention. It should be understood that computer program instructionsmay be used to implement each process and/or each block in theflowcharts and/or the block diagrams and a combination of a processand/or a block in the flowcharts and/or the block diagrams. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided for a general-purposecomputer, a dedicated computer, an embedded processor, or a processor ofany other programmable data processing device to generate a machine, sothat the instructions executed by a computer or a processor of any otherprogrammable data processing device generate an apparatus forimplementing a specific function in one or more processes in theflowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable memory that can instruct the computer or any other programmabledata processing device to work in a specific manner, so that theinstructions stored in the computer readable memory generate an artifactthat includes an instruction apparatus. The instruction apparatusimplements a specific function in one or more processes in theflowcharts and/or in one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computeror another programmable data processing device, so that a series ofoperations and steps are performed on the computer or the anotherprogrammable device, thereby generating computer-implemented processing.Therefore, the instructions executed on the computer or the anotherprogrammable device provide steps for implementing a specific functionin one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or in one or more blocksin the block diagrams.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described,persons skilled in the art can make changes and modifications to theseembodiments once they learn the basic inventive concept. Therefore, thefollowing claims are intended to be construed as to cover theembodiments and all changes and modifications falling within the scopeof the present invention.

Apparently, persons skilled in the art can make various modificationsand variations to the embodiments of the present invention withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the presentinvention. The present invention is intended to cover thesemodifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope ofprotection defined by the following claims and their equivalenttechnologies.

What is claimed is:
 1. A downlink scheduling data receiving method, comprising: receiving downlink scheduling data from a base station; determining that a terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) monitoring cycle when in an idle state and that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling according to a second DRX monitoring cycle when in a connected state; and receiving the downlink scheduling data using a first DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle; receiving the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein the first DRX monitoring cycle is longer than the second DRX monitoring cycle and the first sending cycle is longer than the second sending cycle.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first DRX monitoring cycle comprises: determining, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein before receiving the downlink scheduling data using a first sending cycle, the method further comprises: receiving the first DRX monitoring cycle in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein before determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle, the method further comprises: determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using a second DRX monitoring cycle, and receiving the downlink scheduling by using the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein a unit of a duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is millisecond or second.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using a second DRX monitoring cycle comprises: determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein before receiving the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle, the method further comprises: receiving the second DRX monitoring cycle in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 7. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and having program instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause a terminal to: receive downlink scheduling data from a base station; determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) monitoring cycle when in an idle state and that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling according to a second DRX monitoring cycle when in a connected state; and receive the downlink scheduling data using a first DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle, receiving the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein the first DRX monitoring cycle is longer than the second DRX monitoring cycle and the first sending cycle is longer than the second sending cycle.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein program instructions cause the terminal to: determine, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program instructions cause the terminal to: receive the first DRX monitoring cycle in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program instructions further cause the terminal to: determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using a second DRX monitoring cycle, and receive the downlink scheduling by using the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein a unit of a duration of the second DRX monitoring cycle is millisecond or second.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program instructions cause the terminal to: determine, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the program instructions further cause the terminal to: receive the second DRX monitoring cycle in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the apparatus is the terminal.
 14. A communication method, comprising: sending, by a core network device, downlink scheduling data to a base station; receiving, by the base station, the downlink scheduling data; determining, by the base station, that a terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) monitoring cycle when in an idle state and that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling according to a second DRX monitoring cycle when in a connected state; and sending, by the base station, the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using a first sending cycle when the terminal is determined to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle, sending, by the base station, the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using a second sending cycle when the terminal is determined to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein the first DRX monitoring cycle is longer than the second DRX monitoring cycle and the first sending cycle is longer than the second sending cycle.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein determining, by the base station, the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using a first DRX monitoring cycle comprises: determining, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.
 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein before sending, by the base station, the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using a first sending cycle, the method further comprises: sending, by the base station, the first DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein determining, by the base station, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using a second DRX monitoring cycle comprises: determining, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, determining that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.
 18. The method according to claim 14, wherein before sending, by the base station, the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using the second sending cycle, the method further comprises: sending, by the base station, the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 19. A communication system comprising: a core network device and a base station; wherein the core network device sends downlink scheduling data to the base station; the base station receives the downlink scheduling data; the base station determines that a terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) monitoring cycle when in an idle state and that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling according to a second DRX monitoring cycle when in a connected state; and the base station sends the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using a first sending cycle when the terminal is determined to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle; the base station sends the downlink scheduling data to the terminal using a second sending cycle when the terminal is determined to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the second DRX monitoring cycle, and wherein the first DRX monitoring cycle is longer than the second DRX monitoring cycle and the first sending cycle is longer than the second sending cycle.
 20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the base station determines, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, the base station determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle.
 21. The system according to claim 19, wherein the base station sends the first DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 22. The system according to claim 19, wherein the base station determines, according to the second DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is downlink data, the base station determines that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the second DRX monitoring cycle.
 23. The system according to claim 19, wherein the base station sends the second DRX monitoring cycle to the terminal in a broadcast manner or a dedicated signaling manner.
 24. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause a terminal to: receive downlink scheduling data from a base station; determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data according to a first discontinuous reception (DRX) monitoring cycle when in an idle state and that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling according to a second DRX monitoring cycle when in a connected state; and receive the downlink scheduling data using a first DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the first DRX monitoring cycle, receiving the downlink scheduling data using the second DRX monitoring cycle when the terminal determines to monitor the downlink scheduling data according to the second DRX monitoring cycle, wherein the first DRX monitoring cycle is longer than the second DRX monitoring cycle and the first sending cycle is longer than the second sending cycle.
 25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 24, wherein the program instructions cause the terminal to: determine, according to the first DRX monitoring cycle carried in the downlink scheduling data, that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data using the first DRX monitoring cycle; or when it is determined that the downlink scheduling data is a paging message, determine that the terminal monitors the downlink scheduling data by using the first DRX monitoring cycle. 